Understanding planning · 13 min read
Planning application documents: what to read first
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.
England · County council
Explore collected planning applications and decisions for Essex County Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 13 Oct 2026. Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.
Explore published planning boundaries and follow their source records for designation details. Coverage varies: an empty map does not mean there are no restrictions. Check the council’s current maps and documents before relying on a boundary.
A boundary map is not available for this authority yet. Use council conservation-area and Article 4 guidance above where linked.
Download Article 4 coverage for all authorities (CSV)
Sources: Planning Data conservation areas and Article 4 direction areas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Fiveways Primary School,Winstree Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0QG
Received 11 Nov 2009Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 7 Dec 2022Cherry Tree Primary School,Holt Drive,Colchester,CO2 0BG
Received 20 Jun 2002Hedingham School,Yeldham Road,Sible Hedingham,Halstead,CO9 3QH
Received 20 Nov 2008St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 11 Dec 2001Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 8 Feb 2019St Peters High School,Southminster Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8QB
Received 6 Oct 2000Wickford Clubhouse, 34 Runwell Road, Wickford
Received 2 Jan 1996193, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, CM2 0LG
Received 12 Jan 2012Land at: Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 13 Sept 2022James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 10 Jan 2020Stansted Youth Centre,Lower Street,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM248LR
Received 11 Nov 2009Lufkins Farm, Frating and Brook Farm, Great Bentley, Colchester
Received 26 Jun 2018A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 11 Jan 2021Eastern Waste Disposal Yard, Morses Lane Industrial Estate,Morses Lane Industrial Estate,Brightlingsea,CO7 0SD
Received 16 Jun 2000Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, Ugley, CM22 6HT
Received 1 Apr 2020Trinity Road Primary School, Trinity Road, Chelmsford Essex CM2 6HS
Received 10 Aug 2022Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 7 Dec 2011Hare Street Primary School and Nursery,Little Grove Field,Harlow,CM19 4BU
Received 17 Jan 2002The Yard,South Strand,Lawford Industrial Estate,Manningtree,CO11 1UP
Received 30 Aug 2007Fawbert and Barnards School,Fawbert & Barnards (UNDL) PS,London Rd,Old Harlow,Harlow,CM17 0DA
Received 19 Apr 2002Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 22 Oct 2019Holy Trinity C of E Primary School,Beridge Road,Halstead
Received 20 Jan 2005Records are ordered by application ID, not submission date. Use search to find a particular address or proposal.
View all applicationsStart with the address or application reference. Open a record to read the proposal, dates and available documents, then check the official register for the latest plans and consultation details. If nothing appears, check coverage before treating the result as a complete planning history.
How to search planning applications
Understanding planning · 13 min read
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.

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Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

Property research · 13 min read
Understand planning approval rates with an interactive calculator, worked examples and comparison table. Check sample sizes, outcomes and coverage before comparing.
These figures describe applications collected by PlanningTrack for Essex County Council, across all dates currently available. They are a partial dataset, rather than an authority-wide performance measure. The date range does not establish continuous historical coverage.
The approval percentage is approved records divided by approved plus refused records. Pending, withdrawn and unknown outcomes are excluded. No percentage is shown until there is an approved or refused record.
Check collection coverage